Gerwig’s task as Barbie’s director was to create a movie that celebrated the doll while also acknowledging her controversial status in American culture. But if Barbie is a symbol of unattainable beauty standards, the Barbie movie is a symbol of incoherent feminist standards. Where earlier waves of feminism sought for women’s equal participation in democracy and the marketplace as women,... Continue Reading

Specific strengths I appreciate about the book: Clary explains how men and women flourish when they live according to God’s good design. This is insightful: “Men are prone to certain vices that are curbed by social relations with women. … Women have the power to help men become the best version of themselves. … Women... Continue Reading

Christie has provided this thorough new work that seeks to describe Livingstone not as we’ve imagined him or want him to be, but as he actually was. It describes him as neither a hero nor a villain, but as a man who was both sinful and sanctified, both tragically flawed and full-out committed to the... Continue Reading

In his short work, The Emotional Life of Our Lord, BB Warfield writes of the compassion, love, indignation, and sorrow that Jesus experienced during His earthly ministry. Jesus was “subject to all sinless human emotions.” [4] So, what were the occasions that caused the Lord to weep? Three moments in Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry stand... Continue Reading

Good Bible translations will demonstrate that they have paid attention to the way God’s gift of language actually works. They won’t propose impossible linguistic ideas or promise special insight into “what God really meant” in the originals, insight no other translations provide. They won’t baptize one language as specially divine.   If you find an... Continue Reading

Fathers of the faith came up against the same flavors of heresy that we do today, and to battle against these false doctrines they opened Scripture and wrote creeds to help ordinary believers understand. Thanks be to God, he has preserved these creeds, and confessions in more recent history, for us today. While the creeds... Continue Reading

There is strength in the PCA. It is not time for a funeral. Instead, it is time for a sober assessment and perhaps some correction of purpose and strategy statements. Considering these dismal performances (if that is one’s assessment), one might ask, “How has the PCA grown?” That answer could be the most positive thing... Continue Reading

If the church is to be on earth what it is in heaven, the church’s mission is to see sons of Adam become sons of God by the preaching of the gospel. More predestinarian, the mission of the church is to find the lost sheep in every fold (i.e., in every nation), and by so... Continue Reading

While the God-centeredness of God might lead us to expect a simple Christ-centeredness of Christ in his earthly ministry, this is largely not what we (yet) find in his state of humiliation. In End, Edwards points to John 7:18 (one of several statements from Jesus renouncing the pursuit of his own glory) as characteristic of Christ’s humbled state: “The... Continue Reading

Wisdom promises short-term pains but long-term gains. Proverbs 3:1–10 has five sections that call us to a certain action with an incentive that follows that action. It’s a “rule-reward” pattern. Verses 1–2 introduce the pattern and verses 3–10 show us how it works out in four specific areas.   “How much will you lose if you... Continue Reading